The present invention relates to bimini tops, which are able to be selectively deployed from a stowed position to provide shade and/or shelter for occupants of boats or other vessels or structures.
In at least one existing bimini top 20 (FIG. 1), a canvas cover 22 is attached to several bows 24 that support the cover 22 and that are pivotable relative to each other to allow retraction and extension of the bimini top 20. The bimini top 20 can be moved between a stowed position (in which the bows 24 are stacked together to minimize the storage space) and a deployed position (in which the bows 24 are spaced apart to cover a predetermined area of the boat). As shown in FIG. 1, the bimini top 20 can include main bows 24A and auxiliary bows 24B. The auxiliary bows 24B are connected directly to the main bows 24A rather than to the boat or to another designated support structure. The auxiliary bows 24B are pivotable with respect to the main bows 24A to which they are connected in order that they may also move between stacked or “stowed” positions and spaced-apart or “deployed” positions.
The bimini top 20 can be deployed and/or stowed by hand or by a powered or automated system (i.e., a hydraulic actuator). In many instances, regardless of whether the bimini top 20 is power-operated, a user may have to manually pivot the auxiliary bows 24B away from each other and towards the respective main bows 24A during retraction of the bimini top 20 in order to have them assume the proper stowed orientation. To prevent the need for manually stacking the auxiliary bows 24B, bungee cords 26 may be provided between the main bows 24A and the respective auxiliary bows 24B. Each bungee cord 26 extends from a first attachment point 28 on the auxiliary bow 24B through an opening 30 in the corresponding main bow 24A to a second attachment point 32. The bungee cords 26 are pre-tensioned by this arrangement such that there is a biasing force present to keep the auxiliary bows 24B stacked next to the respective main bows 24A when they are in the stowed position. When the bimini top 20 is deployed, the tension in the bungee cords 26 increases further, proportional to the length that they are stretched. In this arrangement, the bungee cords 26 are subject to destructive chafing at the openings 30 where the cords 26 pass though the main bows 24A, even with the use of a grommet or the like in the opening 30, due to the tensile force in the bungee cords 26 and the sharp angle that must be followed. Furthermore, the exposed portions of the bungee cords 26 are subject to damage from any number of sources including, but not limited to UV exposure and incidental contact with sharp objects. If one of the bungee cords 26 breaks, it is not contained and may release its stored energy in an unpredictable manner.
With respect to the bungee cords 26 themselves, it is known to use conventional fabric-covered latex cords, which have a maximum stretchability or allowable elongation of about 50 percent to 100 percent (i.e., stretching to a length between about 1.5 times and 2 times the nominal or unstretched length). The fabric cover or jacket encloses many elastic strands and acts as an over-stretch protector and exposure protector for the strands. These thin elastic strands combine for a particularly high amount of exposed surface area and thus, are particularly sensitive to oxygen exposure, which will ultimately harden and break down the material and make the bungee cords 26 lose their functionality. Because of the limited amount of allowable elongation percentage, a large length of the material must be used (larger than the actual distance between one of the main bows 24A and one of the auxiliary bows 24B) in order to obtain the required amount of overall elongation, which is determined by the difference in the distance between the main and auxiliary bows 24A, 24B in the respective stowed and deployed orientations. This necessitates the arrangement of having the bungee cords 26 pass inside the main bows 24A, which has certain disadvantages as discussed above.